Originally Posted By kpwdwfan I just returned from a week at WDW and had a great vacation as usual but I must say that Extra Magic Hours at night were a waste of time in my opinion. I caution people who plan on using this time to catch up on the attractions they missed because the lines were to long during the day. Don't get me wrong I commend WDW for adding extra magic hours for resort guests but only having one park open late creates gridlock in that particular park. We visited each of the parks during extra magic hours and MGM and Epcot were so unbearably crowded it wasn't funny. Each of these parks only had five or six attractions open which made the wait times extremely long. Just before our vacation WDW adjusted their August hours of operations to close their parks earlier due to low attendance projections. In my opinion, the parks were extremely crowded especially during the weekend and WDW should have not cut back on park operating hours in August. During off-peak times at WDW Extra Magic Hours can be a great time to see your favorite attractions but on the other hand is a nightmare during the summer and holiday periods. I strongly recommend that guests take advantage of the early park openings for resort guests because we were able to do more in one hour in the mornings than we were able to do in all the Extra Magic Hours at night.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 All of our dates in the parks where on EMH for the morning. I have heard that the evenings were crazy and that everyone has the same idea, get extra time to be in the park. So it is so busy.
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer We went to MK for evening extra magic hours in the beginning of August and had a blast. We managed to see everything and had no waits more than 15 minutes. It was great. We went back the next day to catch a few things that weren't open the night before and couldn't believe how long the lines were. So, in our case, the EMH worked.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I did not use EMH at any park except MK - because we were there with my young nieces an there were rides they couldnot get on during the day -- MK has a lot open and I think that helps. I was there in June and by the end of EMH we were walking on rides.
Originally Posted By kpwdwfan I'm glad to see that some people have had good luck with extra magic hours. Like I said we have had good luck in the past but EMH on this trip was horrible. You can't expect to have one park open with five or six attractions with all those people. Unfortunately it was a waste of time and we've learned our lesson.
Originally Posted By ChiMike Yep, prices go up and hours get shorter. All during the summer vacation season. Love dat Disney
Originally Posted By kpwdwfan Yep, unfortunately that seems to be the standard for Disney. Like I said, we really enjoyed our trip but the lines were longer than ever and the park hours were shorter. I don't really understand how WDW sets it's park hours because the parks were really crowded the whole time we were there.
Originally Posted By irishfan How long extra does the Magic Kingdom stay open for on a EMH evening? A friend of mine is vising WDW in September and hopes to benefit from EMH at the Magic Kingdom on Sept 3rd. According to the calander, the park closes to regular guests at 10pm. Same question for Animal Kingdom, when it closes at 5pm to regular guests, what time does it close during an EMH evening?
Originally Posted By CMM1 Was there at WDW last week - did EMH (got the wristbands) at Epcot and then at MK. At Epcot Soarin and Test Track were both crowded with waits of around 45 min at 9:30PM - we didn't stick around to see if the lines went down later. At MK we had gone on BTMRR, SM, POTC and Space Mt twice each by 9PM so we headed back to the hotel and skipped the fireworks (since we live in SoCal we'd rather go the Friday fireworks games at Angels Stadium where the show is much easier to see)
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 EMH's at all parks at night have been nothing but great experiences for me. WDW has conditioned its guests through years of cutbacks to waking up with a call from Mickey at 6 a.m. and to be in bed early, so (even in summer) the parks tend to clear out very quickly. In one hour, I've been able to do 4-5 major attractions. The only attraction in any park that seems to have huge lines at night is Soarin, which I skip then. While I'd much rather see WDW return to its traditional hours, I know that's not going to happen with folks like Al Weiss and Jay Rasulo and Frumpy Meg in charge (that was for TDLFAN) ... so I'll take what I can get ...
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <At Epcot Soarin and Test Track were both crowded with waits of around 45 min at 9:30PM - we didn't stick around to see if the lines went down later. < Wow, I'm stunned -- you mean 45 minute waits ( and pain for those people) and after FP is over....who have thunk it ? Last time there at 10:15 the waits were 70 minutes and FP was no longer in play -- but how can that be as I am told only FP causes those issues and people are used to waiting 7 to 24 minutes for rides ? well I must really be dumb...
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom My advise is to go on Soarin during the Extra Magic Hour in the morning. That means, be at the gates of EPCOT at 8 AM. Otherwise you have to endure the longer waits. When my party did this we got off of Soarin. Got a Fast Pass for Soarin ( you can't get any Fast Passes until offical Park opening time ). Then we went on Living with the Land. Then got some breakfast in the land. Great pastries and food items, I really enjoyed the hot chocolate. By then it was time to use the Fast Pass to ride Soarin a second time.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>well I must really be dumb...<< I don't know, you might be. Because I have explained four or five times now that it isn't an issue of there never being lines before fastpass. It's very simple, I'm actually shocked that a guy like you can't wrap yourself around this little point. You are smarter than this. With FP operating on an attraction, it takes 500 people in standby longer to load then it does when FP is not operating. Now everybody say, DUH. Right? Still with me? So, if 500 people in a standby line when FP is not operating can cause a 60 minute wait, then 500 people in a standby line when FP IS operating will cause a longer wait. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Why do I have to keep saying this? These straw-man sarcastic statements of, "WOW, lookee-here, a 75 minute wait for Soarin' with no FP up! Imagine that!" are completely off mark. Because if FP was operating and the same amount of people were in standby, the wait HAS TO BE, not MIGHT BE, HAS TO BE longer. [Unless no FP returns come through while the entire group cycles out of the queue and loads. Which is more unrealistic then 10000 people showing up for a FP.]
Originally Posted By kpwdwfan There is no doubt that Fast Pass has made standby lines much longer but the lines at "E" ticket attractions have always been long for the most part. Fast Pass has beneifted me and my family over the years but I can certainly understand the frustration of waiting in the standby line and watching it not move while dozens of people pass in the fast pass line. Personally, I'd rather have a fast pass and be able to go to another attraction and wait in the standby line knowing that later on I won't have to wait in another long standby line. I'd rather wait once than twice.
Originally Posted By ChiMike And that's a nice post, kpwdwfan, but the larger point is not that the lines for the "E" ticket attractions have always been long -or- always been short, it is simply the fact that it takes more longer for 10 or 200 people to cycle out of the standby queue with FP activated. So, if during Easter break 1988 Space Mountain had 400 people in it's queue and in 2003 Easter Break w/FP Space Mountain had 400 people in it's queue, there would have been a LONGER standby wait in 2003. Hope that helps.
